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Heated exchanges mark Council meeting in Ooty

Thursday, 01 April 2010 06:02 administrator
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The Hindu 01.04.2010

Heated exchanges mark Council meeting in Ooty

Special Correspondent

Members complain that officials are lax in discharging duties

Photo: M. Sathyamoorthy

Emphasizing their view: Members making a point at a meeting of the Udhagamandalam Municipal Council on Wednesday. -

Udhagamandalam: Heated exchanges, a demonstration and a walk out marked a meeting of the Udhagamandalam Municipal Council (UMC) held here on Wednesday.

The Chairman of the Council R.Rajendran presided over the meeting.

Shortly after the meeting commenced, George (DMK) lamented that though he had brought to the notice of the officials concerned that sewage was mingling with drinking water in his ward, nothing tangible had been done to set right matters.

With other members also complaining that officials were lax in discharging their duties and the Commissioner was not treating them with the respect they deserved, practically all of them left their seats and sat on the floor.

They also took exception to a resolution which stated that over 200 shops functioning in municipal buildings and the municipal market should be sealed for non payment of taxes, rent etc. and action should be initiated to recover the dues.

Withdrawal

Demanding the withdrawal of the resolution and transfer of the Commissioner, the members barring Imtiaz (AIADMK) staged a walkout. The Chairman adjourned the meeting.

Later, speaking to The Hindu, Mr.Rajendran said that the aim of the resolution was to improve the fiscal position of the municipality.

However Councillors including the Vice Chairman J.Ravikumar (DMK) and K.A.Mustaffa (DMK) contended that the measure was too harsh.

Claiming that compared to an earlier period, the dues of the traders inside the municipal market was not much, they said that in due course they would be cleared.

Last Updated on Thursday, 01 April 2010 06:11
 

Court restrains Madurai Corporation

Thursday, 01 April 2010 04:41 administrator
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The Hindu 01.04.2010

Court restrains Madurai Corporation

Staff Reporter

MADURAI: The Madras High Court Bench here on Wednesday restrained the Madurai Municipal Corporation from confirming the auction conducted on Tuesday for establishing three shops in a public waiting area near Platform No.2 in the Maatuthavani Integrated bus terminus.

A Division Bench comprising Justice F.M. Ibrahim Kalifulla and Justice K.B.K. Vasuki granted the interim injunction following a public interest litigation petition filed by a lawyer to quash the tender notification and a consequent direction to maintain the public waiting area in its present form.

Petitioner's counsel F. Deepak said that the Corporation had issued the notification on March 25 in respect of the public waiting area to be converted into three commercial shops and rented out for Rs.3,300 per shop besides a deposit of Rs. 1 lakh for each shop.

“If this area is converted into commercial shops, the public will be put to hardship and inconvenience. The tender notification would cause sufferings to women, children and the aged who were using the waiting area in the bus terminus,” the counsel contended.

Last Updated on Thursday, 01 April 2010 05:06
 

Councillors stage walkout over drinking water shortage in Tirupur

Thursday, 01 April 2010 04:19 administrator
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The Hindu 01.04.2010

Councillors stage walkout over drinking water shortage in Tirupur

Staff Reporter

They protest against the ‘lethargic attitude' of the administration

Photo: M.Balaji

Expressing his views: Mayor K. Selvaraj (centre) speaking at the Corporation council meeting in Tirupur on Wednesday. -

Tirupur: The Corporation council meeting that was held here on Wednesday was dominated by protests from the councillors against the ‘lethargic attitude' of the administration in dealing with the acute drinking water shortage experienced in the city.

Staging a walkout, CPI (M) and CPI councillors alleged that the administration did not display foresight in addressing the drinking water scarcity before the summer started taking its toll.

CPI councillor P.R. Natarajan said that though only 48 mld (million litres per day) of water was supplied through the existing three water schemes to the city dwellers, no effective step was being taken by the Corporation officials to get the proposed fourth drinking water commissioned at the earliest.

“It is also a matter of anxiety for the public that the State Government did not make any allocation towards the fourth drinking water scheme in the current budget.

“Adding to the woes, huge fiscal deficits in the Corporation budgets during the last few years make the administration incapable of executing any improvement in the drinking water supply on their own,” he added.

According to Mr. Natarajan, the drinking water scarcity will become much worse once the two municipalities and eight village panchayats were merged with the Corporation next year.

Similar concern was raised by AIADMK councillors too.

They were of the opinion that despite the growth of city, no major budgetary allocation was made by the State Government in the last few years to improve the drinking water supply as well as to improve road infrastructure.

MDMK councilors led by S. Sivabalan too staged a walkout expressing their displeasure over the periodic power supply failure in many parts of the city apart from the scheduled load shedding.

Last Updated on Thursday, 01 April 2010 04:23
 
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